Silver and Foals
by ThereBeDragons17
Summary: King Elessar finds his youngest daughter determined to run away and thinks of a way to change her mind.


**A/N: This is based off of something Carson said in Downton Abbey, but it's mainly my idea. Elwen is a character I made up in a different fic (Dragons in the Garden- please read) as the youngest daughter of Elessar and Arwen. I do not own Lord of the Rings **

The King of Gondor was in his study, doing paperwork that wasn't all that important, when a huge crash resonated from the room below him.

There was a sound of pounding feet and clattering metal, meaning that the guards were running through the palace. Elessar looked up from the trade negotiation he was writing and sat back. Not a minute later the captain of the guard burst in.

"What is it?" asked the King.

The captain of the guard looked somewhat awkward. He shifted from foot to foot. "It's your daughter Elwen, my lord."

"She is alright?" Elessar asked sharply, his paternal instincts firing up.

"Oh, yes, sir." The captain said. "But, sir, she won't leave the Silver Room."

"The Silver Room?" The King asked, confused. "What on earth is Elwen doing in the Silver Room?"

"I couldn't rightfully say, my lord," the captain replied, "But she says that she won't leave until she speaks to either you or the Queen."

Elessar nodded. Over the last few weeks he had been consumed in work and hadn't been able to spend much time with his family. If Elwen had gone on strike, he would have to go and set her straight again. "I'm coming." Then, as an afterthought, "Don't tell the Queen just yet."

The king led the captain of the guard back through the palace to the floor below. The door to the Silver Room was shut and a handful of guards milled around outside of it, snapping to attention as their king came in sight. The King nodded, dismissed them all, and entered the room.

The Silver Room was named because it housed all of the silver owned by the royal family of Gondor. Elessar hadn't seen even half of it in his fourteen years as King. There were shelves and shelves of silver that were gifts from lords and ladies and elves, though the most precious, valuable, and beautiful pieces were of dwarven make. Normally all of the pieces were sorted neatly on their respective shelves; but now it looked like someone had rummaged through them. Elessar reminded himself to post a guard on the room the next time he saw the captain.

The corners of the room were dark, but Elessar could hear heavy breathing. "Elwen, I know you're in here. Come out."

The girl crept from a corner of the room. Elessar's youngest daughter was six years old. She was wearing a soft lavender dress and carried a large bag over her shoulder, which bulged with its contents. One of the shelves was tipped over; that must have been the crash. She glared at her father stubbornly, lifting her chin and glaring in a way that was not in the least intimidating and was really quite cute.

"Elwen," Elessar said sternly, kneeling down to be the same height as his daughter, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Ada," Elwen said seriously, "I'm running away."

Her candid answer caught her father off guard. "Are you?"

"Yes," the little girl said confidently. "And I'm taking some of the silver to sell. And Brego."

If Elessar was amused by his daughter's ridiculous lack of plan, and the strangeness of the one she had in place, he didn't show it. "Why would you run away?'

Elwen hoisted the sack over her shoulder with a childish grunt. The contents clanged and the King realized that it must be silverware inside. "You don't ever see me. Naneth doesn't either."

"Elwen, a'maelamin (**my beloved**), I try to see you when I can. I saw you just yesterday."

"But you don't spend time with me." Elwen pouted. "You don't play games with me. You spar with Eldarion. You tell Gilraen and Aralia stories when I'm in bed. But you don't do anything with me. So I'm running away."

Elessar's mind had been reeling as his daughter spoke. "Well, Elwen, if you're going to run away, you can't take Brego."

Elwen seemed surprised that her father hadn't argued with her. "But Brego's nice!"

"But he's my horse," Elessar said. "And he's too tall for you to ride. If you want, we can go down and pick out a horse for you."

Without waiting for an answer, the King swept out of the room, leaving his daughter behind. Somewhat taken aback, Elwen dropped her sack, then picked it up again and ran after her father, bag clanking behind her. The guards outside the room stared at the two as they passed but didn't ask what they were doing.

Guards looked on in bewilderment as the king led his daughter out of the palace, his daughter toting a heavy sack and the king barely walking slow enough for her to keep up. Had Arwen seen the unusual pair she most likely would have stopped them; but neither Arwen nor any of Elwen's siblings saw them leave.

Elwen followed her father through the palace, down into Gondor, and to the Royal Stables where the stable head Gerven tended the horses. Gerven was just as surprised to see not so much the king but his daughter with him.

"Your Highness," he greeted the king respectfully, then added, "My lady. What brings you down here so late in the day?"

"Elwen is running away, Gerven, and as she cannot take my horse I thought that we should get her one of her own."

The stable head looked completely and utterly confused at this point, staring from the girl to her father and back and back and back and back again.

"I believe you acquired a new one yesterday?" Elessar prompted.

Understanding suddenly shone in the stable head's eyes. "Oh yes, my lord! And I believe it'd suit her very much."

"Lead on," Elessar commanded. Gerven scampered away, followed closely by the king with his long stride, and Elwen clanking after. After a few steps the girl stopped, propped her bag of goodies up next to a water barrel, and ran after the two men.

Gerven stopped outside of what appeared to be an empty stall. With a clanking of keys, he opened it and stood aside for the princess. "See how you like her, m'lady."

Elwen peeped her head around the door, and suddenly, with an awed "Oh!" the princess rushed forward as if to enter the stall. A started whinny sounded from inside and the king managed to grab his daughter by the back of her dress before she truly entered. "Slowly, Elwen, slowly!"

Elwen approached the horses much slower this time. The little foal, barely a day old, sat with it's mother in the hay. It was a shiny chestnut color, with white socks, and seemed to regard the princess with as much curiosity as she regarded it.

"Oh," said Elessar loudly. "Wrong stall, Gerven. Come, Elwen, there's a horse this way you might like…"

"No!" Elwen said stubbornly.

"Pardon?"

"I like him!" The princess protested, sitting down in the hay and putting her arms around the foal's neck. It snorted but didn't protest.

"Her," Gerven corrected, but Elwen didn't hear him.

"Elwen," Elessar said slowly, as if he was thinking. "if you take that horse, you'll have to wait for her to grow up before you can run away."

"That's fine."

"May I have my silver back in the meantime?"

"Yes, ada." Then, seeing the knowing smile that crossed her father's face, Elwen added sharply, "But I'm gonna take it back to sell when she's old enough!"

"Of course," Elessar agreed. "But for now…" He held out his hand for his daughter. The sun was beginning to lick the horizon. "I think it's time for dinner."


End file.
